The type of wheelchair to which the present invention relates is disclosed in EP 0 339 500, which shows a wheelchair with relatively bulky drives. Each drive is disposed on a wheel axle, and projects far into the space between the two side components of the wheelchair. The drives are rigidly connected by ball-and-socket joints extending transversely such that the access space for inserting the battery in the back of the wheelchair is very restricted, and the battery will not end up lying in the center of gravity of the wheelchair, which is undesirable.